Professional 'corn-man' joins Disrupt #21 as panelist

By Karamjit Singh August 19, 2014

Nelson Kwok to share perspective of retailers
Former toy seller turned leading franchiser

Professional 'corn-man' joins Disrupt #21 as panelist TOMORROW'S Disrupt #21 Bricks to Clicks event, welcomes a third panelist, Nelson Kwok, the self-professed “professional corn man” and founder of Nelson’s Corn.

Kwok (pic) will be joining the panel, which consists of Rohit Maheswaran, founder of retail-focused startup Ebizu; and Hisham Isa, the chief marketing officer of Singapore-based mobile advertising network BuzzCity.

As the immediate past president of the Malaysia Retail Chain Association which claims over 200 members including Maxis, Poh Kong, Popular Bookstores and 7-11, Kwok will be able to share what traditional retailers really think about how technology can or cannot help them to increase sales.

While e-commerce growth is expected to explode, it does not seem like many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are ready to capture this growth. Consider the fact that even today, only 30% of SMEs in Malaysia have a website.

Even more amazing is this: About 72% say they are not considering having a website in the next six months. Among the reasons they cite are cost, lack of expertise in managing a website, and the company being too small to need a website.

Kwok himself is an entrepreneur who started his corn-in-a-cup franchise empire by accident in 1981. He was selling toys before that.

Today, Nelson’s Corn has around 800 franchise outlets in 17 countries. In Malaysia, there are around 100 outlets, which consist mainly of kiosks.

Due to the high demand and keen interest surrounding this topic, Digital News Asia is pleased to announce that an additional 20 more seats have been opened up for interested attendees.

To RSVP, click here or on the link below.

Online event registration for Disrupt #21: Bricks to Clicks powered by Eventbrite